Women's March Madness Final Four, NCAA champion predictions - ESPN

UConn heads into the 2026 women's NCAA tournament as the No. 1 overall seed. But were the Huskies the most popular pick to win the national championship among ESPN's college basketball analysts?

Which team from each region will advance to Phoenix and the Final Four? And who will win the NCAA title? Before the first round tips off Friday (11:30 a.m. ET, ESPN2), our experts made their predictions.

The Huskies, who are six wins away from their 13th NCAA title and seventh perfect season, were a popular vote: UConn was selected as the Fort Worth 1 Region champion by all 22 voters. No other team was a unanimous Final Four pick, but the 1-seeds received a clear majority. South Carolina received 21 votes, Texas had 19 and UCLA 15.

While half of the voters picked all four No. 1 seeds to advance to the national semifinals, LSU, Duke, Michigan, Louisville and TCU also received at least one vote to reach Phoenix.

UConn was picked to win the national title on 13 ballots. Fellow 1-seeds UCLA (four), Texas (four) and South Carolina (one) were the only teams picked to win the championship.

Let's run through the expert picks — but first, let's break down the bracket a bit.

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Experts' picks

Charlie Creme: With LSU, the top No. 2 seed, and Duke, the best of the No. 3 seeds, together with UCLA, the No. 2 overall seed, simple math says it's Sacramento 2. But as loaded as this region is, it doesn't make the Bruins' path any more difficult. They can play either the Tigers or Blue Devils, not both. If seeds hold through the first two rounds, LSU and Duke would play each other before reaching UCLA.

Ole Miss is the team that could be a speed bump to the Bruins' road to the Final Four. The No. 5 seed Rebels did stumble with four losses to